By Echo Wang
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Israeli cybersecurity firm Cato Networks, which was valued at more than $3 billion in a private funding round last year, has hired underwriters for an initial public offering in New York, according to people familiar with the matter.
Cato has tapped Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Barclays to lead preparations for a stock market flotation that could come by early 2025, possibly sooner if equity capital markets rebound this year, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.
Cato is looking to raise more than $500 million, one of the sources said, adding that the company has yet to finalize the valuation it will target at the time of its IPO.
JPMorgan and Barclays declined to comment. Cato and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Since its founding in 2015, Cato has raised more than $770 million, according to PitchBook. It raised $238 million in a private funding round last year that was led by LightSpeed Venture Partners, with participation from other investors including Adams Street Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Sixty Degree Capital and Singtel Innov8.
Cato’s co-founder and CEO Shlomo Kramer also co-founded Check Point Software Technologies, which is currently valued at over $19 billion.
In February, Cato said it posted annual revenue growth of 59% in 2023. It currently counts more than 2,200 enterprise customers, including Carlsberg and the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E.
The IPO market is showing early signs of rebounding, with several big names including social media firm Reddit also preparing to go public. The market for stock market flotations was largely subdued over the past two years due to market volatility and high interest rates, delaying the listing plans of several large tech unicorns.
(Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
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